Ok, guys...this one gets me. Most of you know something about me, but for those who don't- I've been performing PN investigations for nearly 20 years. To date, we have gotten alot of orbs, perhaps some ectoplasm, and some truly great EVP's...no apparitions. In fact, if you don't count two experiences when I was very young, I've only seen one apparition. Until now- and even this one was only visible in the picture- nothing was there when I took the pictures...at least, so I thought.
Some background. About a month ago, one of our dogs, a sweetheart of a Rottweiller named Grizzly, was hit by a car and killed.
About 2 weeks ago, I bought a new camera- an Olympus IS-30 point and shoot 35mm. I'm a manual SLR guy- a semi pro photographer, I guess, as I've photoillustrated a few books and manuals I've written, and sometimes sell Aurora pictures. (I live in Alaska) I have my own darkroom, although I did not develop these myself.
Anyway, I was playing with my new camera last week- getting the hang of an "automatic" camera. I shot a roll of black and white, and when the camera told me I had taken 24, I shot a few aimlessly at the dog run, just to end out the roll. Both of these were taken at the same time, from about the same position- although note the vast difference in lighting between them...I can't explain that at all.
The first photo shows my blacksmith shop and the corner of the dog run- notice the silhouette in the left corner of the run, behind the fence. This is where Griz hanitually stood, with his paws on a tire that is all but buried there- it only sticks up about 8 inches.
The second photo gives me chills- for one, there is a very odd double exposure type phenomenon- but I have no idea why. Typically, this results from one of four scenarios.
1. A multifaceted lens, or prism lens. I shot the photo, so I know this is not the case.
2. A reflective surface- there are none, the snow itself is very rough and crusty, and there is no focused light source. Besides, the snow itself is doubled in the photo.
3. An error in developing. Although I did not develop these myself, I did observe- no error was made. The negative is also identical to the print, as is the digitized version.

Keep in mind- this lab has never developed my film before- I was testing them to see if I could trust them with my Aurora pics. Also, I did not even own this camera while the dog was alive.

No matter how you explain the doubling, nothing would perfectly add the subject as it is- I have no explanation for this whatsoever- other than a PN one.
One more thing- our other dog- visible in picture two, in the foreground- acts very strange around the run. He will not enter it, although he often stands at the gate and whines. I have a video of him doing this.
In short...there are no pictures of the Rotty anywhere near the camera, lab, or film. I haven't even taken a picture of him since last summer.

I would really like to hear opinions...skeptic and otherwise. My formula for investigating the PN is to DISPROVE everything...whatever is left, well, that I..consider. I've never been impressed with Orbs- they may be a side effect, or somehow related to the PN...but regardless of what some folks think, I can easily fake an orb- the arguments I have heard about the difference between a "real" orb and an insect, dust, etc...they just don't hold water, in my opinion. I'm not saying thay aren't a real phenomenon- just that they are spurious evidence at best. Way too easy to make a reasonable argument about alternative causes.

So there you go. Make your own decision, and tell me what you think.

PLease look at these in order:

Picture One:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v611/WildLomcevak/picture1J.jpg[/URL]

Picture Two:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v611/WildLomcevak/picture2J.jpg[/URL]


Thanks for listenin'

I just looked at the photos through the link..they aren't nearly as clear as the original. Let me know if you can see him...

well the first one i cant see anything because the darks are too dark but the second one i do see what looks to be a rotty with his front paws on that tire. you can make out the face pretty well in the doubled exposure. nice pic!

I don't pretend to understand this, but my daughter ( she's 9) said that it looked like, to her, that in the first picture he wasn't through "solidizing" (her word) and in the second, he is. Maybe so...This is wild, I really thought I was just burning up the last few pics on a roll, so I could get them developed. When I think about all of the hundreds of hours I've spent trying to get a picture of an apparition, with no luck...and then there is one literally in my back yard...

Keep the comments coming, folks. For all of my so-called experience in this field, I have to say this has rocked my world a little. Orbs and EVP's are one thing, but this is just...fantastic. I now understand the frustration of people who have gotten really good pics of apparitions- to me, this is an incredibly powerful experience, but I know that to everyone else it's just another ghost photo- and even the most devout believer has that little nagging doubt in the back of their mind. I've never been particularly impressed with Orbs- and now I will be even less impressed. They may indeed be a bi-product of PN activity- or the "default" form of a spirit- but nothing has ever affected me like this has. I'm going to try to get more pics of him, but they will have to be day photos...it's now minus 30 at night, which stops the camera from fuctioning almost immediately..and we only have about 5 hours of daylight. Argh, the arctic is NOT the best place to be a ghost hunter, that's for sure.

Thanks For Listenin',

Well, I attempted to clean these images up. I cropped them some, and then used every tool I have to try to get a more detailed image- I own some very expensive, and usually effective, image manipulation software...yet I had marginal results. In my experience, these photos should have cleaned up much better than they did, but this is the best I could come up with.

Here are the "improved" images. I added an "M" for "modified" to the file name.

Picture One:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v611/WildLomcevak/picture1JM.jpg[/URL]

Picture Two:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v611/WildLomcevak/picture2JaM.jpg[/URL]

Tell me what you think- and let me know if they appear to be any clearer.

Thanks,

Oops- I noticed, in my first post, I claimed four possibilities for the dopuble exposure, then listed three. The 4th is a deliberate manipulation of the photo, to create a "fake". I'm the only one who knows for sure that the picture is legitimate, unfortunately.

Hi Jamie,

Interesting pictures. Is the silhouette that you are referring to in pic one the very dark shape that is in the left corner that seems to be near the back of the run? That same dark shape in pic one doesn't seem to be in pic two. Any idea what caused that? Pic two - I do clearly see the Rotty with paws on the tire. Did your other dog act strangely (like he has before) or did you notice anything at all while taking the pics? I know Apparitions often happen quickly and can be quite faint at times going unnoticed until you view the pic/video, however the Rotty does appear solid almost shadow like so would be neat if you caught a glimpse in the camera. I don't often see B&W shots, so it may just be the way I am seeing the pics that gives me the shadow impression. It would be interesting to capture the same anomoly on two different cameras while using both B&W and color film.

Thanks for sharing these with us. If your up to sharing more it would be great to see some of the pics from your investigations. Cat =)

The black shadow in pic 1 is in the same place as the dog in pic 2..I'm not sure what you mean about the one in back of the run...
No, I didn't see or notice or feel a thing. My buddy Daryl was there, picking me up to go into town. I shot off those pics really fast so I could take the film in to get it developed. The other dog- Tracker- is in the same place in both pics, but I had used the zoom in pic 2, so it cut him out. I wasn't really taking a picture of anything- the counter showed 24 already, so I didn't know how many shots I woluld get beyond that..I just focused on the closest thing- the blacksmith shop and run- and fired away. The camera was new, so I played with the zoom button...it almost seems like I was guided to take the photos there. At the time though, it was just a lightning quick Snap-Snap, then I pulled the film and jumped in the car. Tracker doesn't seem to be reacting at all- he does react to the pen at times, he won't go in and he stands at the outside of the gate and whines...but we just figured it was because he hates to be confined, and maybe he missed Griz. Now I wonder...
I am going to post more pics from out investigations, now that I have learned about Photobucket- thanks Cat!- but they are just orbs and mists. I do want to post some EVP's that are really good...I especially like two, one from a haunted mine here, and another from the Alamo in San Antonio. They are very clear, and...well, I'll let y'all decide. I have to convert them to digital, as they were both taken on microcassette.
BTW, we got permission to walk through the Alamo after hours to investigate- it was very intersting. If any of you are in the area and want to do this, go through the Daughters of the Texas Republic-
http://www.thealamo.org/drt.html[/URL]
they set it up for us in no time.(This was 8 years ago, however) They are in the phone book, and also have flyers at the Alamo itself. We stayed from 11pm until we were ready to leave,about 3am, completely unescorted. It's well worth the trouble....there is a definite presence there. A friendly one, for sure- wait till you hear the EVP's! I think someone from Davy Crocket's time was a comedian. Still is, I reckon.

Thanks for listenin'...please keep the feedback coming, I love to hear it, guys! Skepticism welcomed!!!

The dark shape in pic one looks to me like it is near the back left corner of the run (that's what I meant by back of the run). The shape is different then the Rotty shape/shadow and the Rotty shadow seems to be near the front left corner which is why I was wondering what the one in pic one was? Maybe it's the B&W aspect of the pics but I still can't say for sure what they are (pic one) or what caused them. I wonder why Tracker didn't react, animals usualy do maybe because you and Daryl were with him his attention was with you?

Looking forward to seeing your pics and hearing those EVP's. =)

Well, It sure does look like a rottie sitting there as a owner of two of them I sure can tell it is. I am so sorry to hear about your rotties passing. I hope for your sake that is your Grizzly and he is still watching over you!

Jamie, In the original post before you cropped down the photo, I have to tell you what I see.
Look at the base of the tree, there are what appear to me to be 3-4 stones partially covered in snow. This exact same pattern is repeated faintly at the very bottom of the photo, which leads me to believe that this is a double-exposure. Remember yourself saying that people see the face of Jesus in thier pastas? Well think about it, if this is a double-exposure with the leaves (trees) brought down to the center it will create odd looking shapes when placed over the surrounding environment. The "dog" that you refer to looks like something out of a cartoon, which means to me that this is not likely a real dog, but what our minds can concoct as the image of a dog, perhaps.

Wild,
I love your picture. I do think your doggie is still with you in spirit. As I have said on my posted I think that spirit can take advantage of camera flukes. If your other dog acts as if he is there I feel animals know more than we do when it comes to the other side. Sure looks like a doggie friend to me.
Starlou

I think you have a real identified rott! My sister owned a rot and I know what a rot looks like. That is clearly a rot, lol. I believe that when you have an animal you truely love they stay with you forever. If your rot was the love of your life like a child can be, I see no doubt how this photo could be fake! Wonderful, maybe you should take more!!!

Ok, I brought out my glasses and everything for this one, even though my vision is near perfect without them. Where is this tire everyone else seems to see? LOL. Are you all referring to that dog-shaped shadow that looks like it's standing in the pen?

I think I have this one figured out. The picture, as the poster said, is double exposed. The roof of the blacksmith shop has been duplicated a couple of inches just below it. If you look a couple of inches above the "dog" in the pen, you will see an area of tree branches that has the exact same shape. The dog in the pen is simply the trees being pulled down from the double exposure, just like Haunted said.

The only thing that I can't figure out is what caused the shape in the trees to begin with. I assume it is just an anomaly of double exposure. I have had many pictures come back double-exposed and would have 2 or 3 images of my baby in them, all in different clothes on different days, some upside-down or sideways. You just never know.

"Dog"/Shadow comparison[/URL]

[ December 29, 2004, 01:31 AM: Message edited by: KellKell ]

I see more than a dog in this picture. Good picture Wild.
ok you guys I took a good look at this picture and you guys keep talking about a dog which I can see but I also see alot more in this picture. I see 2 man, a woman and I think a child. I see more than that but these are the easiest to identify. I took these pictures and outlined what I am seeing. Hope you do not mind.

This is the woman[/URL]
This is the man and child[/URL]
This is the other man[/URL]

What do you guys think?

[ December 29, 2004, 01:42 AM: Message edited by: KellKell ]

Hmmm...I wish I could post the originals here, they are so much more clear. Pic 1 is obviously just a silhouette, the only thing I know for sure is that it is roughly dog-shaped and in the exact spot where Griz stood. Pic 2, however...in the original it is amazingly clear. I've shown the pic to people with no explanation at all, and they clearly see a rottweiller in it- and several of these folks did not even know we had a rotty. I didn't set them up, didn't indicate anything was unusual, I just said something like "I wish these had come out better, you can't even tell what I was taking a picture of!". Nobody has been unable to pick Griz out of Pic 2, even with this innocuous pre-briefing. I wish the pic didn't have the doubling- while I can't explain the double exposure at all, it still detracts from the picture. The lab had never developed my pics before, and the camera didn't come into my possession until after Griz had died, so even a double exposure can't explain the presence of a dog, any dog, in the pen- much less what is obviously- to me, anyway- a Rotty.
I appreciate everyone's comments- please feel free to keep them coming, I especially enjoy the skeptics- they bring up possible explanations that I can explore!

I found 1 more face in this picture

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v503/Starlou/spiritkeep/spiritkeep1D.jpg[/URL]

Starlou

I did not have to look hard in either photo to see the dog. Its amazing.